Peggy Turbett, The Plain DealerCleveland police raided this Internet sweepstakes cafe on Lorain Avenue on Oct. 1 for illegal gambling. The building is owned by an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor.

Correction: A headline that appeared on this story Wednesday morning improperly described the role of Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Saleh Awadallah in a sweepstakes cafe that was investigated by Cleveland police. Awadallah is a building owner who leased space to a tenant who owned and operated the cafe.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor owns a building targeted by Cleveland police earlier this month for illegal gambling.

Saleh Awadallah said he initially thought his tenant, businessman Michael Kamel, was opening a coffee shop with Internet access in the building at 13349 Lorain Ave.

Awadallah said he told Kamel to close Cyber House after learning that the business was a sweepstakes cafe and that the city's Building and Housing Department would not grant Kamel a permit for that use.

Sweepstakes cafes sell customers cards that allow them to use the Internet to play casino-like games on the business' computers.

Cyber House closed for four or five days and then reopened, Awadallah said. Kamel applied for a variance but then withdrew the application. Awadallah said Kamel told him that a new variance request would be filed. Council President Martin J. Sweeney said he opposed the variance, which likely killed its chances of approval.

"To me, this is an issue between the business owner and the city," Awadallah said. "If this city is allowing it to happen, they're allowing it to happen. If the city says you can't do it, fine."

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Neither Kamel nor his attorney, Don Malarcik, could be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Awadallah said the police raid surprised him given that the city's Board of Zoning Appeals had issued a variance for two other Internet sweepstakes cafes on the East Side.

"How can it be gambling on the West Side and not be gambling on the East Side?" Awadallah asked.

Awadallah's question says much about the controversy and confusion surrounding sweepstakes cafes.

Operators compare their sweepstakes to those offered by fast food restaurants. Critics think they are gambling operations exploiting loopholes in city codes. The Ohio Attorney General's Office has not taken a stand on the issue, leaving enforcement of gambling laws up to local police.

Lt. James Muhic, head of the Cleveland's police Intelligence Unit, said he thinks sweepstakes cafes house illegal gambling. His unit conducted the early afternoon raid on Cyber House on Oct. 1, confiscating 46 computers and $2,250 in cash.

Muhic said his detectives determined after a monthlong probe that gambling took place because some Cyber House customers had lost "substantial" amounts of money.

"One woman said she wished we had hit the place earlier in the day before she'd lost all her money," Muhic said.

Muhic said it did not make sense for people to spend thousands of dollars for Internet time at Cyber House when they could buy a computer with Internet access for much less.

Customers were required to show identification and register before buying the phone cards that allowed them to play games similar to slot and video poker machines, Muhic said. And they were given free food and nonalcoholic drinks as an enticement to gamble, Muhic said.

Whether or not these sweepstakes cafes are gambling operations is unsettled in Ohio. Neither state nor city laws speak directly to the issue. A Toledo Municipal Court judge ruled last year that sweepstakes cafes are not gambling because the prizes are predetermined by a computer. But a jury in Akron Municipal Court sentenced a sweepstakes operator to 180 days in jail on gambling charges.

Cafes have been operating in Brook Park, Richmond Heights, Cuyahoga Heights and Newburgh Heights. Other cities have passed or are considering moratoriums to stop sweepstakes cafes from opening.

Cleveland City Council has introduced legislation to regulate and restrict Internet sweepstakes cafes that is expected to be approved in the coming weeks. Several council members prefer a moratorium.

Cleveland police raided a sweepstakes cafe on Lake Shore Boulevard near East 156th Street in July, but returned the computers after the operators successfully applied for a zoning variance to operate an amusement business. That caf has been open since last month.

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